Federal Money

Colorado's getting a lot of money from the federal government under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Just how much is hard to say, because it's coming in a variety of ways and depends on various conditions.

Figuring out how it will help us balance our state budget is a little easier. The money that helps us do that is coming in two forms:

• State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (Stabilization money)

• Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP or "Medicaid match")

Stabilization Fund

We're getting $760 million in State Fiscal Stabilization Funding. Of that amount, 82% has to go to education. Of the 82%, some goes to K-12 and some goes to higher education; the governor decides how much goes to each. His decision is outlined in the table below.

FMAP

The increased Medicaid match gets factored into budget as a savings. Most Medicaid spending is mandatory, so when we get a higher federal match, we can spend less money from the General Fund.

We get the increased match for:

• 3 quarters in 2008-09

• 4 quarters in 2009-10

• 2 quarters in 2010-11

The amount of the federal match increase depends on the state's unemployment rate. For the current year it works out to a 40-60 match: for each 40 cents we put in, the feds contribute 60 cents. We won't know for a while what match we'll get for next year.

Source/Use	Use	Fiscal Year	Amount	Who Decides
Stabilization		2008-09 2009-10 2010-11	$760 million	Congress/President
	Education		$486 million	82% of the total, by federal law
	K-12	2009-10	$149 million	Governor's Decision
		2010-11	$337 million	Governor's Decision
	Higher Ed		$135 million	Governor's Decision
		2008-09	$30 million	Governor's Decision
		2009-10	$53 million	Governor's Decision
		2010-11	$53 million	Governor's Decision
	Other		$138 million	Governor Deciding
FMAP	Medicaid
		2008-09	$196 million	3 quarters
		2009-10	$304 million	4 quarters
		2010-11	$150 million	2 quarters

There's a lot of other federal money that's coming to Colorado through ARRA. Here's some of it. (The online version has links to more information).

Source/Use	Use	Fiscal Year	Amount	Notes
Transportation			$500 million
	CDOT		$329 million	Map of ARRA projects
	Denver Regional Council of Governments		$55.9 million
	Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments		$13.1 million
	North Front Range MPO		$5.8 million
	Transit		$103 million	Distribution of transit money
Unemployment Benefits & Job Training			$174 million
Food Stamps & Food			$178 million
Housing Help			$68 million
Additional Money for Education			$319 million
Water Projects			$66 million
Public Safety			$35 million